NPS Enters Era for New Discovery

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NPS Enters Era for New Discovery
November 16, 2009
Navy News|by MC2 Kellie Arakawa

MONTEREY, Calif. - Advanced research at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is perfecting directed energy and hypersonic weapons that may soon join the handful of inventions that have transformed the military's ability to deliver energy fast, accurately and at a safe distance.

When the musket was added to the infantryman's standard issue, common sense dictates the impact it had on the sword; and when cruise missiles were introduced to naval fleets, strategies and concepts of operations on how ships can support battle changed completely.

Now, directed energy and hypersonic weapons could well herald the next era in naval armaments. In 2008, the Electromagnetic Rail Gun (EMG) was officially named an Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) by the Office of Naval Research, and by 2010 the Free Electron Laser (FEL) is also to be designated an INP – testaments to the priority the Navy places on these new weapons systems.

Two Naval Postgraduate School faculty members from the Department of Physics, Pprofessor Bill Colson and Senior Lecturer Bill Maier, are bringing these cutting edge directed energy weapons to fruition. With the help of several students and researchers, they are researching and developing advanced high-energy technologies that could revolutionize maritime warfare over the next few decades.

"These are futuristic weapons," Colson said. "But if they work as we think they will, they are going to revolutionize the way ships defend themselves -- as revolutionary as guns were to swords." Colson was referring to a concept he has been working on for several years -- utilizing a high-energy, free electron laser for shipboard defense.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/navy-news/nps-enters-era-for-new-discovery.html